Production of elements of printing-forms.



A. L. KNiGHT.

PRODUCTION OF ELEMENTS 0F PRINTING FORMS.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 33, I917- Patented Feb.19,'1918.

INVENTOR AMOS L. KN IG HT.

AMOS L. KNIGHT, 0F PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR LANSTON MONO- TYPE MACHINE COMPANY, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, A. CORPORATION OF VIRGINIA.

PRODUCTION OF ELEMENTS 0F PRINTING-FORMS.

a full, clear, and exact description of the same reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, and to the characters of reference marked thereon.

My invention relates to the production of typemetal elements of printing forms such as spacing material, leads, slugs and the like, and has for an objectto produce such elements by casting them in successive, non

fused sections and ejecting said sections successively from the mold by causing the ejecting movement of the last cast section to be transmitted to and accomplish the ejection of a previously cast section. Another and more specific object is to produce typemetal elements by casting'molten typemetal into a mold cavity one wall of which is formed by a face of a previously cast element, the heat of the metal being controlled-in the mold in such a manner as substantially to prevent fusion between the metal being cast and the metal of thepreviously cast element. When the metal of the last cast element has become cool itis given an ejecting movement, pushing the previously cast element before it, until a position is reached in which its rearmost face will serve as a wall of the mold cavity for the next casting operation; and these operations may be repeated, if desired, to causea-regular casting of new elements and ejection of previously cast elements, the latter being ready for use and requiring no cutting or sawing to length, planing, trimming or other finishing operations. v

The invention will now be clearly set forth in connection with: the following description of the accompanying drawings in wh1ch Figure 1 is a section of a mold and associated parts suitable'for producing printers leads in accordance with the method of the present invention, the section being sub-- stantially' in the vertical plane of thev mold blade;

Specification of Lettfi Patent.

Application filed February 3, 191 i. Serial No. 146,492.

Patented Feb. is, 1918.

Fig. 2 is a cross section substantially on the line 22 of Fig. 1. v

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the top or filler blade.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the filler blade support, and

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a modified form of filler blade and support.

I Apparatus for producing continuous type metal strips by casting successive increments fused together is well known in the printing art, a form of such apparatus being disclosed in my pending application Serial No. 864,894 filed October 3rd, 1914 (patent issued April 10, 1917, No. 1,222,415). With the aid of such. apparatus molten typemetal is forced into a mold cavity one wall of which is formed by a previously cast increment, the temperatures of the said wall and the molten metal being so controlled that the said wall is sufficiently melted by the heat to cause the fusing together of the increment being cast and the one previously cast. This control of temperature at the meeting faces of two increments is preferably accomplished in practice by locating the said fusible wall in proximity to the nozzle directing the molten stream into the mold cavity or by directing 1 said stream angularly against said wall so that the incoming molten metal is washed along the wall and conveys suflicient heat to it to melt it. After fusion of two increments, both are advanced by the mold blade sufliciently so that the rear face of the last cast incrementis in position for fusion to the succeeding cast and this process is repeated, the fused increments issuing from the mold being severed into the desired lengths by a suitable cutting apparatus- The apparatus illustrated. herein, is generally like that of the said application. The product of the present invention is,

however, wholly different, being separate,

non-fused elements instead of a continuous fused strip, and the method of producing such product is also wholly different from that employed in the production of fused increment strip" material.

It will be understood, of

tioned application) is adapted to be assocourse, that the mold shown (like that of the above men ciated with suitable mechanism for inject ing metal into the mold cavity,

. 3th, 1899; but it will be apparent that the mold shown and the method described herein are susceptible of association with other and simpler mechanism.

'The mold shown in the accompanying.

drawing'may be placed in the location for the mold shown and described in the last mentioned patent, and its blade may be actuated through the medium of the cross blade actuating lever 246 of the patent. The pump nozzle 189 may be the same also as that of. said patent and be connected with a metal pumping mechanism of the type of that shown in the patent.

- The mold may be the same in general construction as that shown and clearly described in my application Serial No. 864,894; and the mold illustrated herein partakes of the general characteristics of that of the application so that it is not necessary here to describe it in minute detail. The base 3 of the mold is provided with a suitable nozzle-seat for the \.reception of the nozzle 189 and holds the type blocks 4 and 5 in a channel extending longitudinally of the mold blade 6, the bottom edge of which is slidable on the base block 3, the sides between the type blocks 4' and 5 and the top against the filler blade 7 (see Fig. 3), held by the holder 8 (see Fig. 4), the latter resting upon the type blocks with the. filler blade 7 extending between them and being "held by a clamp 9'and abutment 10. The

mold blade 6 and the filler blade 7 are of' a thickness corresponding with the point size of the element to be cast and the type blocks are separated at their rear ends by top and bottom liners of substantially the same point size, the type blocks and liners being held by bolts 11. are positioned laterally with the blade central over the nozzle by the packing plate 12 of suitable thickness and the type block 4 is secured rigidly to the base by the screws 4 (Fig. 1). To hold the type blocks on the base 3, tie bars 13 and 14, secured by bolts 15, are provided. The clamp 9 and abutment 10 are secured to the type block 4 bythe collared bolt 16; and a shield 17 may be removably held upon the clamp 9 by the washer 18 yieldingly pressed against the shield by the spring 19 positioned between the washer and the head of the bolt 16. This shield is not always necessaryv but is provided to prevent accidental squirting of molten metal upwardly out of the moldwhen the filler blade 7 employed is not long enough to fill completely the space between the type blocks up to the end of the'mold.

The type blocks As shown, however, the filler blade extend: substantially to the ends of the type blocks The tie bar 14 is grooved at 20 to permit 01 .the easy assembling of the filler blade without removing said tie bar.

The type block 5 is provided with a triangular vent opening which gradually enlarges toward the discharge end of the mold; and this is conveniently accomplished, as shown, by constructing the block 5 in two parts, the lower part being grooved in the form of the vent opening and the upper part 5 being. secured to the lower part with the bottom wall covering the groove. In the vent opening a pusher 21, triangular in section to fit said opening, is adapted to slide, said pusher being loosely secured to the blade'by a lug thereon which seats in the rectangular hole 22 in the blade. The lug nicely fits the hole longitudinally of the blade but, is smaller than the hole in avertical direction, so that an absolutely accurate vertical positioning of the hole with respect to the vent opening is unnecessary. It will be understood of course that the blade is slidably fitted in the mold so that it may be advanced and retracted and that the pusher is slidable in the vent opening and is moved back and forth by the blade in unison therewith. The blade is moved by an operating bar 23 provided at oneend with a stud 24 extending into an aperture in the blade, its opposite end being connected by a spring box connection with the actuating lever 246 previously mentioned.

Fixed to a stationary part of the machine stops 25 and 26 are provided for coacting with the shoulder 27 on the bar 23 and with the rear end of the mold blade respectively, the stop 25 governing the advance movement of the blade and the stop 26 the rearward movement thereof. Pica pieces 27 or the like may be hung on the hooks 28 secured to the stops so as to adjust in a manner well understood the blade stroke. The blade is represented in Fig. 1 in its advanced position by full lines and in retracted position by dotted lines. To support its rear end when retracted a supporting block 29 secured by screws 30 to the bottom of the type block 5 is provided. Also a channeled guide member 31 for guidingthe top, bottom and one side of the blade is secured tothe top of the type block 5 .by the extension 32 and screws 33, said member being provided with a slot 34 to prevent interference with the pusher 21 when the latter is in its retracted position.

A pressure screw 35 threaded in the sleeve 36 passingthrough the front'wall of the base 3 and non-rotatably secured thereto by reason of its square head 37, is adapted to be rotated by the lever39 operated from a suitable part of the machine in timed rela- .1

end thereof. In this way thel typemetal. element is periodically clamped and released for advancement between the type blocks.

As the elements are discharged from between the type blocks they pass between the fixed diagonal blade 40 of the brake or friction device thereof, and the plate 41 spring pressed toward said blade. This device acts frictionally to hold the elements and to cut ofl the typemetal which has escaped through the air vent and has been advanced in unison with the element by the pusher 21.

Instead of the filler blade 7 and its holder 8 a combined blade and holder 42 such as is shown in Fig. 5 may be used.

In operation each element after being cast is advanced by the blade, the latter being moved by the lever 246 and the rod 23 connecting said lever and the blade, until the shoulder 27 on the rod 23 abuts the stop 25, any further motion of the lever 246 being taken up by the spring box in'the said connection. The blade will now be in the position shown in full lines in Fig. 1. The blade is then retracted to the dotted position in which its rearward end abuts against the stop 26, any further motion of the lever 246 being here also taken up by the spring box. When the blade is in retracted position the lever 39 is caused to rotate the pressure screw 35 so as to spring the type block 5 slightly and firmly clamp the element just advanced, after which the pump mechanism forces molten typemetal into the mold cavity formed by the forward wall of the blade 6 in retracted position, the rearward wall of the element previously cast, the side type blocks the base 3, 'and the filler blade 7. It

will be observed that the forward end of the mold blade is a vertical plane surface so tha the typemetal element produced may have straight parallel ends. After a short period of time necessary for the cooling and hardening of the metal, which is preferably hastened in the usual manner by circulating cooling fluid through channels in the mold, the above operations are repeated. This method of operation differs .from that set forth in the previously mentioned applica tion in that in the present case the heat of w the molten metal whenit reaches the mold cavity wall formed by the previously cast element, is not suflicient to melt the said wall or a part of it sufficient to cause substantial fusion of the two elements. This heat control is accomplished by'maintaining the said wall at a temperature suflic ently low to prevent fusion. In practice al flow of molten metal within the mold is usuallyfill all the corners of the cavity and reaches the typemetal wall of the cavity while in mobile condition, it is insufiicient as to its heatcontent at the moment of reaching said wall to heat up the latter to a fusion temperature. The wall is preferably water cooled and of course it is metallic and possesses good heat conductivity; moreover it is clamped tightly on'the mold and these circumstances aid in keeping it at a non-fusing temperature. In

somecases the whole charge of molten metal may contain insuflicient heat to produce a fusion temperature of the wall.

I claim 1. The improvement in the art of producing elements of printing forms which comprises casting said elements in a mold in successive, non-fused sections and ejecting said sections successively from the mold by causing an ejecting motion of the section last cast to accomplish the ejection of a previously cast section.

2. The improvement in the art of producing elements of printing forms which com prises casting said elements in a mold-in successive, non-fused sections, each section immediately preceding the last cast section being maintained immovable during the casting of said last cast section, then releasing said preceding section and causing an ejecting motion of the last cast section to accomplish the ejection of 'a previously cast section.

3. The improvement in the art of producing elements of printing forms which comprises injecting the molten charge for each section into a mold cavity the discharge end of which is closed by clamping the previously cast element between the side walls of the mold, then releasing said previously ca'st element and causing an ejecting movement of the element last cast .to accomplish the ejection from the mold of a previously cast section. I

4. The method of forming type metal elements of printing forms which consists in casting the elements in successive sections in contact with each other and in maintaining ciently low to prevent fusion of its surface by contact with the molten metal of the succeeding section, and in feeding the elements forward in unison as they successively ,congeal to leave space for the formation of a succeeding section.

6. The method of forming type metal elements of printing forms which consists in 30 ity one wall of which casting the elements in successive sections in contact with each other at one edge and in maintaining each solidified section at a temperature sufliciently low to prevent fusion 5 of its surface by contact with the molten metal of the succeeding section.

7. The method of forming type metal elements of printing formswhich consists in casting the elements in successive sectionsin contact with-each other at one edge and in maintaining each solidified section at a ,temperature sufliciently low to prevent fusion of its surface by contact with the molten metal of the succeeding section, and

in feeding the elements forward in unison as they successively congeal to leave space for the formation of a succeeding section.

8. The method of forming atypemetal. element of a printing form which comprises forcing molten typemetal into a mold cav-.

ity one wall of which is formed by previously cast typemetal and causing the molten typemetal within the mold to flow by an indirect path into contact with said wall,

whereby substantially no fusion of the molten typemetal with said wall takes place.

9. The method of forming a typemetal element of a printing form which comprises forcing molten typemetal into a mold cavis formed by previously cast typemetal and causing such molten metal to traverse the'mold cavity before reaching said wall, whereby substantially no fusion of the molten typemetal 3 with the wall takes place.

10. The method of forming a typemetal element of a printing form which comprises directing molten typemetal into a mold cavity and toward the central portion thereof,

40 one wall of said cavity being formed by previously cast typemetal whereby substantially no fusion of the molten typemetal with said wall takes place. I

11. The method of forming a typemetal element of a printingform which comprises forcing a charge of molten typemetal into a mold cavity one wall of which is formed by dpreviously cast typemetal, and causing sai charge to flow within the mold in contact with cooling surfaces thereof before it comes into contact with said typemetal wall,

whereby substantially no fusion of the molten typemetal with the Wall takes place.

12. The method of forming a typemetal element of a printing form which comprises forcing molten typemetal into a mold .cav,- ity one end wall of which is a plane surface formed by the end of a previously cast typemetal element and the other end wall of which is a plane surface constituted by the end of the mold blade, and the side walls of which are formed by fluid-cooled type blocks, and causing the molten typemetal to flow first between said type blocks and thereafter toward and into contact with said typemetal wall,;whereby when the molten typemetal reaches said typemetal wall substantially no fusion therewith takes place.

13. The method of forming a typemetal element of a printing form which comprises introducing molten typemetal into a mold cavity one end wall of which is a plane sur face formed by the end of a reviously cast typemetal element and the other end wall of which is.a plane surface parallel to the first named plane surface and. constituted by the end of the mold blade, and the side walls of which are formed by fluidcooled type blocks, said molten typemetal being introduced into the mold cavity substantially centrally thereof and in the form of a stream substantially parallel to said end walls.

14. The method of forming typemetal elements of printing forms which comprises forcing molten typemetal into a mold cavity one wall of which is formed by previously cast typemetal, and causing the molten metal 

